Shock-absorber for automobiles.



A. BOHM. SHOCK ABSORBEBVPOR AUTOMOBILES. APPLICATION FILED 00121, 1911.

Patented Mar. 25, 1913.

c (IQ-31 -Bohm on ITED srarns PATENT OFFICE.-

ANDBEW BOHM, CF MORRISTOVN, NEW- JERSEY.

SHOCK-ABSORBER FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Application filed October 21, 1911.

1/ '0 all whom. it may concern Be it known that I, ANDREW Bonn, citi; zen of the United States, residing at Morristown, in the county of Morris and State of New Je sey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shock-Absorbers for Automobiles, of which the following isa specification.

My invention relates to automobile appliances and particularly to devicesdesigned to take up shock, and relieve the springs of the automobile from too sudden fiexure.

The primary object of my invention is the provision of a very simple and yet effective shock absoi-ber which may be easily applied which while yielding to a downward movement of the body, frictionall 1 resists the upward movement thereof, "thus preventing any' violent recoil of the sorings';

Another object is to provide a shock absorber in which the movementof the vehicle body in one direction is resist-ed by frictional Specification of Letters Patent.

to any automobile of ordinary type, and.

engagementof the members, and in this connection to' so construct the shock absorber as 't-owprovide a very large area of frictional engaging surface. I

A further object is to provide aj shock absorber of the character above referred to in which the amount of frictional resistance may be readily regulated, and further'to provide in this connection a ineans forresiliently controlling the amount of pressure or frictional resistance between one friction element and the nextadjacent element.

A further object is to. provide a shock absorber in which advantage is taken of the frictional contactexistingbetween the munber of relatively thin plates. pressed into relatively tight engagement with-each other and rotating in opposite directions.

Further objects will appear in the course of the following description. 3

An embodimentofmy invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

wherein Figure 1 is a longitudinal. sectional viewof a portion ofanv automobile showing my shock absorber applied thereto. E12. 2 is a perspective view of theshock absorber, the

several parts being separated from each other. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional iew of the absorber, Fig. 4 is aperspec- Patented Mai. 25, 1913. Serial No. 655,913;

separated from each other.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated each other, one connected to the body of the part; the two elements rotating about a com mon pivotwhen. the body is shifted relative to the axle in either direction. One of these elements is designated 2 "and comprises a relatively circular head 3 and an farm. 4:. The other element is designated S and comprises a relatively circular headfifand an arm 7. The extremities of the arms i'and 7 are perforated as at 8 for the passage of bolts screws or other means whereby the. extrem'ities of the arms may be connected re spectively, one with t-hebody- -of the vehicle and the other withjtheaxie thereof. vThe head 3 is hollowed out to forma; circular chamber asbest seen in Fi iB Ithi'S chamber being relatively deep wh e -the head 5 is hollowed out as "at 9 to form arelatively shallow chamber. within -which Y a: ratchet wheel is contained as .will-belaterdesoribed. Disposed within the chamber formed by the hollowheads 3 and 6 is aiba'rrel: 10.having reduced ends-l1 and .12,- these reduced -ends fitting infbearings 13 formed the headsso that the barrel willrotate within the heads. Attached to one end of the'barrel is a ratchet-Pwheel 14; the circumference thereof being provided with ratchet teeth 15. The barrel is formed with a' plurality ofradial projecting lugs 16. As il ust-rated, there are three radial lugs or wings 16bi1t I do not wish to limit myselfto' this number. These lugs'areofcourse less than the-length of the barrel. The ratchet-wheel is fixed upon thebarrel soas to rotatet,herew'=.it-h. v

.6 is formed with spring pawls lf'at oppo site points in its diameter which engage with the ratchet teeth- These spring pawls permit a movement of-"the arm 7 in one direcengage with the ratchet wheel upon a move.-

ment offthearm in the opposite direction tive detail view of two of the friction plates in all the views of the accompanying draw vehicle and the other to the axle or allied The interior face-of'the'wall of the head tion independent of the ratchet wheel 14 but so that the arnl, ratcliet wheel and barrel will turn together. The extremities of the barrel are reduced and exteriorly screw. threaded for engagement with the nuts 18 and 19.

Disposed within the casing formed by the heads 3 and (S 'are .a plurality of friction plates designated respectively 20 and 21;

g The plates 20-areannular ill form and have i peripheral lugs but are annular in form and have inwardly extending radial teeth 25.

These teeth engagexbetween the lugs 16. It will be obvious, therefore, that the plates 21'-. will rotate with the barrel 10, and therefore. with the arm 7-, when the arm 7 is moved in such direction that the pawls 17 'will engage with the teeth 15. These plates and 21' are placed alternately to each other so'thatwhen tlle'friction ,lates are-assembled as shown in Fig. 2, ha lfof the plates'will err-Q gage with the head 3 while the other or alternate plates will engage with the barrel 10. It a will be obvious that when the arms 4 and 7 are moved in opposite directions thatthe plates will be oppositely rotated, and that the frictional contact between these plates will act to resist the movement of the plates and per consequence the"-l novement-.of'the arms 4 and 7. If the barrel 10 were rigidly connected to;

the arms 7, this frictional resistance would o cur not only when the arms were moving away from each other as by a movement of the body of the vehicle'away from the axle due to a rebound of the vehicle body under the action of the springs," but would also cc:

cur when the arms were moving toward each other. In. to "avoid any frictional .resistance acting against the downward move,- ment. of the vehicle body, I have not mounted the barrel 10' rigidly upon the head but have provided the-pawls ll and the ratchet wheel -14 so that when the arms move toward each other t-he-pawls' 17 will slide over the teeth lfigand as a consequence the barrel .10 with the friction (lisks'21 will not be moved opptisitcly to the frictiondis ks 20 but will "move thcrcwitll. of the bowed springs A. which support the Thus upon unexpansion \chiclc body, thearnls will be rotated upon a common pivot so as to force. the free ends of the arms away from each other. Under these. ril'cunlstallccs, the friction plates will act to impede the movement of the parts and thus reduce the recoil of the springs. As the body moves downward, however, the frictio'rrdisks will not act and the spring will befree to act.. l

-The nuts 18 and 1S) merely act to hold the headsabutted against each other, but for the purpose of controlling the degree of.pnessure bet-'ween-thedisks 20 and 21', I provide a resilient means for forcingthe disks toward each other and exerting therefore a spring pressure upon the disks. This means is very clearly shown in Figs. .2 and '3. It

consists of a spider 26 which has a plurality of radially projecting spring ,arms 27, each ca rying at.its end an inwardly extending p 28, preferablygthough' not .necessaril f (med of steel. Theseplns 28 pass throng p'erforations in the ".head'3 and are'freely movable in said perforations. The inner ends of the pins 28 bear frictionally againstthe adjacentfdisk 21. i a

Passing through the barrel 10 is a bolt 29 having a head '30 at one end which passes through the reduced endof the barrel'and .at the other end is screw threadedior engagement w th a nut 31 it llidlibearsjupon the disk which formsa, center of'the spider 26. Underjthese-circumstances, it will be seen that by tightening the nut 31,-thespider will be resiliently forced toward the adja cent head 3 ,andth'e' studsi28 will be forced resiliently a inst the outermost disk ofithe series of di' .ence of thearms 27' will resiliently .force each other. By .tighteningQrooseningfthe the disks 20 and 21 are resiliently forced desired extent.

toward each other may be regulated to any While I have shown what I believe hethe mostieflect-ive details of my construction,

I dohot wish to be limited to this-as it is obvious 'that the principle of the invention might be embodied in other forms without sound 21, and that the resili lloo' these disks in frictionalong ement with nut 31, the degree d'f strength with which Y a departing from the,- spiritthereof; For instance, I preferably form'the' disks20 and 21 61 copper but disks of other-,metal or of other material might, however, .be used in place of copper if so desired.

It will be obvious that if the disks wear,

the two me'mbers' of the device may-be readily taken apart and the disks removed or replaced. It will also be seen, that in case the shock absorber works too stifily, the .t en:

sion on the several disks may be relieved, while if the parts work loosely,the pressure with which the disks are forced against each other may be increased- It will be plain too that'my invention is very simple, that the internal parts are not in any way complicated, and that the frictional engaging members are completely housed-so that dust and dirt can not accumulate with n the chamber formed by the heads 3 and 5 nor collect between the plates. Further, it. will e seen in this connection that the nuts 18 and it) being larger than the reduced ends of the barrel 10 will act to protect the hearing within which the barrel 10 operates and prevent the introduction of dust through these bearings.

l of course do not wish to be limited to any particular arrangement whereby this device may be connected to a vehicle. In Fig. I, however, i have shown a frame iar B of the automobile as being provided with the downwardly projecting bracket (3 hav ing an outwardly 'ii'ojecting pivot pin D which passes through the perforation 8 in the end of arm 7. and have also shown the axle E as being provided with an upwardly 'irojecting bracket l of any suitable char actcr and having a pivot bolt G passing through the perforation 8 in the end of the arm l.

The operation of my invention will be obvious from what has gone before. Upon a depression of the body, the friction disks will all rotate together and there will be practically no impedance to the downward movement; of the body relative to the axle. lipon a rebound of the body. however, under the action of the springs. the friction disks will be thrown into action and will resist the upward movement of the body, thus preventing any violent recoil of the springs.

hat I claim is:

1. A shock absorber including abutting members I'Uftlitlblt, in opposite directions" about a common axis. a barrel disposed between said members. one of said members being freely rotatable with relation to the barrel in both directions. the other of said members engaging with the barrel upon movement in one direction but discngageablc therefrom upon movement in the other direction, and a plurality of friction disks disposed between the meiiil'icrs surrounding the barrel and being in frictional contact with each other, alternate disks having inwardly projecting lugs cngtwing with the barrel, the others of said di. having out "tlldly projecting lugs engaging with the freely rotating abutting member.

A shock absorber including two hollow abutting heads each having a radially extending arm, a ratchet wheel supported in one of said head and indopentlcntly rotatable with relation thereto. a pawl carried by said head and engaging the ratchet wheel for movement in one direction but disengageablc therefrom on int o-inept in the other diro-tion, a barrel extendi; from the enter of said ratchet wheel and lir'. in i re.

dially projcctinglugs. said barrel bcinsi; naledin the opposed head and bcingcouc a thereto, the last named head being fUl'.

hollow heads having radially extending arms, said heads rotating about a common cciucr,cne of said heads being formed on the inside face of its circumferential wall with a iluralityof notchema pawl mounted on the inside face of the other of said heads, a ratchet wheel disposed in the last name-l head and having teeth with which said pawl engages, a barrel carried upon said ratchet wheel journaled in the center of the other head, said barrel being radially notched. means engaging the barrel for holding the heads in engagement with each other, and a plurality of friction disks disposed in one of said heads engaging the face of the ratchet: disk on the other head and surrounding said arrel. alternate disks havin teeth engaging the barrel and the notche head respectively.

4. A shock absorber Including two abutting hollow heads, each having a radially ex tending arm, said heads rotating about a common center, and one of said heads being formed on its inner side face with a p1u-. rality of notches, a bolt passing through both of said heads and constituting the axis for the same, a barrel. rotatably mounted upon the bolt and freely rotatable with relation to the notched head, a. disk mounted upon the end of the barrel opposite the last named head, the adjacent head being re cessed to receive said disk, means for engaging said disk with said recessed head upon a movement of the head and corresponding arm in one direction and disengaging therewith upon a movement of the head and corresponding arm in another direction, and a plurality of friction disks disposed in the notched head and surrouatling said barrel, alternate disks ha ing teeth engaging the barrel and the notched head respectively.

5. A shock absorber including oppositely disposed abutting members rotatable in opposite directions around a common center, a plurality of friction disks disposed between the members and in frictional contact with each other, alternate disks being rotatably connected to each other respectivcly.a spider mounted upon one of said members and having resilient arms, studs carried by said arms passing through said member and engaging the face of the adjacent friction disk to urge the friction disks into contact with each other. and an adju-=tiiig bolt. )assing through the heads and engaging sait'spider and adjustablc to increase or reduce the pr ssure of said spring arms.

6. A shock absorber including abutting ,heads, one of said heads being radially i having teeth, engaging the barrel and the 15 notched upon its interior face, each having notched head respectively, and means on the a radially extending arm, a bolt passing other head for engaging with the first through the axes of the heads, a barrel sur-l named disk upon a movement of the head 5 rounding the bolt, and radially notched, in one direction but disengagingtherefrom 1 upon a movement of the head in another 20 l direction.

In testimony whereof I allix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ANDREW BOHM. L.S.]

\Vitnesses Cnms'rmn' Tno MPSON, J OHN HnLsrRoM.

said harrel having a disk fixed thel'eto at one end frictionally contacting with one of said heads; the opposite end of the barrel being l reduced and journnled in the other of said 0 heads, the terminal end of the barrel being l further reduced and exteriorly screw threaded for engagement with a nut, a plurality of friction disks between the first named d sk and the last named head, alternate disks 1 

